It'll be interesting to see if Bjoergen can continue her dominance. Ever since the 2010 Olympics she's been untouchable. She's won more World Cup races than anyone in history, and the scary thing is, she's not slowing down she's getting faster. Truly a freak of nature, if there ever was one.

[SIZE="2"]*Of course you could argue that we won't get anything kicked, coz I don't even think we're competing![/SIZE]

There has been at least one Danish skier participating in the men's World Cup in recent years. Can't remember his name right now. Oh, and his skis were waxed by the Finnish waxing team. And yes, he got his *** kicked by just about everyone.

I think this will be Johaug's year! Incredible form already in Beitostölen. Other's who I think will do well, aside from the usual one are; Lähteenmäki and Niskanen. Niskanen is a classic specialist so don't expect much from her in the skating races. Lähteenmäki excels in both disciplines and I expect another strong showing in the Tour De Ski. Hopefully she could even podium this time. Though it would require that she would overtake Kowalzcyk or Björgen, as I see that Johaug will be untouchable in the Tour this year.

And Tour de Ski is the main event for me this season. I won't be able to watch the WC so I'm not looking forward to them that much.

In men's World Cup it's going to be another Cologna/Northug duel. Hoping Manificat could spice it up a bit and add victories to his tally that so far includes only one win.

In biathlon I think it will be the same old song and dance. Hopefully the French women have improved their skiing and can challenge for the wins that have been missing due to their poor skiing.

And now that Magdalena is gone, I just wish it won't be all Domracheva.

Nastyy wrote:In biathlon I think it will be the same old song and dance. Hopefully the French women have improved their skiing and can challenge for the wins that have been missing due to their poor skiing.

And now that Magdalena is gone, I just wish it won't be all Domracheva.

Marie Dorin-Habert must be the best biathlete on the scene without a career win for sure... well, or Simon Fourcade, who has been robbed a few times, most notably that crazy Hochfilzen sprint last year when the weather went from chronically bad to not-too-bad, and Simon shot clear and skied fast in dreadful conditions, only to be overtaken by a bunch of guys who did alright in the best conditions later.

I don't think it will be ALL Domracheva - unless she can hit last season's ski speed and vastly increase her shooting speed (accuracy isn't always the problem, more that she seems to take a long time to set up for that first shot, especially in prone), whereupon it'll be a one-horse race. Nevertheless, Mäkäräinen is still around, and if Zaitseva has enough left in the tank it could be interesting. You can never count out Tora Berger, and the Norwegian youngsters were really improved last year, so the likes of Solemdal and Ringen could well be this year's breakouts (and what of Olga Vilukhina too?). And I can hope despite my better judgment that this is the year Miri Gößner learns to shoot, can't I?

Skiing is the only sport I fiercely cheer for Americans I suppose it helps that I skied with Jessie Diggins alot when we were both juniors and have pictures of us on facebook! It also helps that I've skied against Hoffman and have a signed Kikkan poster in my room at home that I got one year!

Moser fanboy.

Libertine Seguros wrote:Colombia is a world of totally alien wonder, a bit like putting the Amish in the control room at NASA.

Miriam whined about feeling heavy last season. German papers are saying she has been diagnosed with wheat & lactose sensitivity and has lost quite a bit of weight. Her off-season hasn't been all gluten- and lactose-free roses however. She had major dental surgery in april to replace her titanium jaw implant which was causing inflammation. From what I gather, she had a 2nd painful surgery in the summer, following an infection, and lost some training as a result.

Don't expect Tarjei Bø to bounce back to his World Cup winning level. His off-season has been greatly hampered by illness. He hopes to be in good form at the World Championships in february, but does not expect to contend for the overall title.

Miriam whined about feeling heavy last season. German papers are saying she has been diagnosed with wheat & lactose sensitivity and has lost quite a bit of weight. Her off-season hasn't been all gluten- and lactose-free roses however. She had major dental surgery in april to replace her titanium jaw implant which was causing inflammation. From what I gather, she had a 2nd painful surgery in the summer, following an infection, and lost some training as a result.

Wasn't it Garmin who had the whole gluten-free-diet thing?

Anyway, if Miri starts destroying the field I will not complain. Like her former roommate before her, there is no belief that the race is safe until every bullet has been fired and she's safely in front, given her propensity for shooting in such a way as to make Lars Berger look like Olga Zaitseva.

She's had a troubled offseason and a couple of months ago there was the voicing of some concerns from German staff that she had lost too much weight to be able to process all the required calories for competition, but she has such a level of potential. Her 2011-12 shooting wasn't great, but if she can shoot at that level and get back to her ski speed of 2010-11, it's only a matter of time until she wins something.

Tyler'sTwin wrote:I was getting my hopes up after Beito... all in vain, probably.

And M.Fourcade's performance was embarrassing for all of biathlon.

Ey, Fourcade was great for 10km, just blew up completely in the last 5. Last year Svendsen and Håfsas entered disappointingly in the 15k at the first XC meet, but Svendsen pulled back a gap of over a minute in the relay. Lars Berger was successful, but then Lars Berger has always been one of the best skiers around when it comes to technique and adapting between XC and biathlon. Among the women, Tora Berger was about 5th at the first XC meet last year, and was probably about fourth fastest woman on average last year (I don't have the stats to hand, but would expect Neuner, Domracheva and Mäkäräinen to be ahead of her over the course of a season).

I guess Martin needs those regular breaks from the skiing to recuperate during the shooting a bit more than the likes of Berger.

Interesting (if inconsequential) mixed relay to start us off in Östersund. Things of note:- Bachmann and Solemdal were way off ideal skiing form, the latter losing time to the likes of Dorin on the skis.- Krystyna Palka was surprisingly quick, and has obviously worked on her skiing. She had some very good placements last year through her shooting, she may be worth keeping an eye on.- The Russian women were predictably accurate, but the German girls were dead-eye as well.- Erik Lesser was quite quick on the skis, leading the bunch back chasing down the less quick Volkov, but both he and Jean-Guillaume Beatrix made a right mess of their standing shoots.- The Czech tandem looked pretty solid (and I like their new gear).- Ustyugov is very calm under pressure, and his shooting was excellent.- Svendsen ate up a decent amount of time in the first half of the last lap, but then seemed to fade, so I would assume he's below top level too.- Sweden have a pretty good male tandem there, but I figured they were putting in an under-strength female pair, the same as often you find the second string given a test in the mixed relays, such as Lesser and Bjøntegaard in the German and Norwegian teams. But then I thought, with Zidek going last year, and Ekholm and Nilsson this off-season, actually that might be Sweden's strongest pair, which made me a bit concerned - they may be on the way to becoming one of those one-gender teams, like the Austrian men or the Belarusian women.